An Unwanted Accident
by getsmart99
Summary: 3x04 Children of the Dark. What if Hotch had agreed to letting Emily take in Carrie? What would have happened if that was the only option? Emily takes in the teenager who is dealing with the confusion and loss of her family. Will Emily be able to guide the distraught teen, and will the two be able to bond and care for each other? Of course the team will help.
1. Chapter 1

Emily walked into the room to find Hotch cleaning up the table with all the papers from the case. Emily looked down quietly and started to gather some of the papers into her hand. She looked up at Hotch.

"I could take her," Emily said quickly.

Hotch looked up confused "Take her?"

"Carrie," Emily replied. "To DC."

"You mean to live with you?" Hotch asked as he noticed a different side of Emily he had never seen before.

"Yeah," Emily responded.

"Why would you want to do that?" Hotch asked knowing that she had no prior involvement in children and how she usually distanced herself from cases.

"I have room," Emily started, "money, and you know, she smart. Two, three years she goes to college."

"Prentiss," Hotch responded sternly. "This is the job and I need you know you can be objective."

Emily looked back at him shocked, "And I need to know that I can be human."

The two stared at each other for a few moments to be interrupted by a small sound of someone clearing their throat at the door. The two looked over to the door to find JJ leaning awkwardly on the frame. Emily blushed in embarrassment from knowing that JJ had heard the conversation.

"I just heard back from the relatives and I'm not sure if the situation would be the best for Carrie," JJ sighed. "Apparently they are going through a divorce and the son just got expelled from school for drugs and may be facing charges."

"Well that is the only family she has so it will have to do," Hotch said going back to the papers.

"Hotch!" Emily exclaimed. "That girl is going to suffer more than she already is if she goes there. They clearly are in no position or want to take on the responsibility of this child."

"Then arrange for her to be put in foster care," Hotch responded.

"Hotch," Emily started never being more agitated by him. "How would you like it if that child was Jack who had to face all of this? Let me take Carrie. I offer the strongest place for her to stay. I can make sure she is coping and is able to get back on her feet."

"Emily you are stepping out of line," Hotch warned. "Do not bring my son into this."

"Actually Hotch," JJ spoke up, "I think Emily has a point. Carrie would most likely do a lot better with Emily than anyone else. And Emily does have a foster license."

"How do you know that?" Emily asked.

"I was reviewing your files because I saw the way you guys were interacting earlier and thought that it would be a strong possibility."

Hotch sighed, "Emily, fine. You may take her in, but I warn you that if the legal system gets upset at you for this I will not fully defend you."

"Fine, Sir," Emily said back.

"We are flying out in two hours so have her ready by then," Hotch said walking past JJ leaving the two women alone.

"Do you think that that is enough time to get her ready?" Emily asked JJ.

"I don't think there is much that girl wants to keep from her house," JJ responded. "I packed all her clothes and her other things earlier for her."

"Where is she?" Emily asked.

"Down the hall in one of the waiting rooms," JJ smiled. "You should go talk to her. I will come with you."

JJ and Emily made their way down to the room. Emily peered in before walking in to see the teen sitting in a chair by the corner of the room and peering out the window with a blank face.

"Carrie?" JJ said as the two agents took a seat across from her and as the girl turned her attention to them.

"Did you get ahold of my family?" Carrie asked looking hopeful.

"We did," JJ started, "But it isn't going to work. There is a lot going on with them right now."

"I figured," Carrie sighed and looked out the window to hide the tears that were forming in her eyes. "So what now? Am I just going to go into the foster system like the guy told me would happen to the strays?"

Emily and JJ's hearts sunk at the sound of the girl's voice.

Emily look to JJ who nodded giving her the okay, "Actually Carrie." Emily started. "I didn't want to you to face that and I was wondering if you would want to come live with me in D.C.?"

Carrie turned to look at Emily, "Really?"

"Yes," Emily said and then panicked, "I know it is kinda short notice. I mean it's across the country and I know it will be a big change and so it's up to you."

Carrie wiped her eyes and tried to smile, "Can I? I don't really have any reason to stay here and I will just get reminded of everything…"

Carrie started to cry and pulled herself into a ball. Emily knelt down in front of her and placed a comforting hand on the girl's knee. Carrie looked up an wiped her eyes and sniffed. Emily smiled at the girl.

"I would like that very much," Emily smiled. "We leave in little under two hours to head back. Do you need more time?"

"No," Carrie responded. "I don't have anything I need to do.

"Okay," JJ said. "I think we should go get our stuff and head over to the courthouse where we can talk this over with the social worker and fill out the paperwork."

The group headed out to the car from the court house. Carrie had grew more reserved and silent as they had filled out the papers. JJ drove as Emily kept looking into the mirror watching Carrie who silently stared out the window. JJ drove into the airport and made her way over to where the jet was parked. Emily got out of the car and grabbed her bag before turning to help Carrie with hers.

"Wait you have a private jet?" Carrie asked.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice," JJ said smiling at the girl. "Lets go get on."

Emily and JJ helped Carrie get all her stuff to the people loading the plane and then led the girl on to find the other agent already on the plane.

Emily spoke, "Hey everyone. As you know this is Carrie and she is going to come live with me from now on. Carrie, find a spot and make yourself comfortable."

Carrie nodded as different agents made their way up to greet her.

"Hi Carrie," Morgan said. "You can just called me Dereck or Morgan. Whichever one you want to. If you ever need anything here is my card and you can call me."

"Okay," Carrie nodded.

"Spencer Reid," Reid said looking up from his book.

"The resident genius," Emily said into Carrie's ear. "And over there is Hotch and Rossi. They are busy writing up reports."

Emily gave Hotch a stern look and stood as she watched Carrie make her way over to the couch and curl up in the corner. Emily settled next to JJ on a chair facing towards Carrie. Emily dozed off within minutes of the flight taking off and woke halfway through the flight to franticly look to Carrie to make sure the girl was okay.

"Em," JJ said. "I'm keeping an eye on Carrie. She is fine for now. Get your sleep while you can. I'll watch her."

"What has she been doing?" Emily asked.

"Just listening to music and reading," JJ responded. "I let her borrow my iPod because I thought it would distract her from everything for a while and Spencer loaned her a book."

"Okay," Emily sighed. "I feel like I am going to fail at this. My mom was a bad role model."

"You'll be fine," JJ smiled. "Carrie just needs someone to comfort her, and help her understand everything to get back on her feet. You can definitely to that."

Emily shrugged, "I hope."


	2. Chapter 2

The team arrived in DC around midnight. Emily saw that Carrie was still awake but was battling the sleep deprivation from the past days. Emily waited for the team to get off the plane before placing an arm around Carrie's shoulder protectively and leading the girl off the plane and into the chilly night air. Carrie and Emily gathered their things and walked to Emily's car parked not far away. Emily drove quietly as they drove into DC. Carrie gazed out the window and the new city she had never seen before. Carrie had always wanted to see DC but found it odd under the circumstances. Emily pulled up to a big apartment building that by the looks was fancy. Emily led Carrie out and into the building and up to the 15th floor. Carrie stood back and watched as Emily opened the door to the apartment. Emily held the door open for the girl who walked in with Emily right behind her. Emily flicked the lights on and Carrie gazed around. The apartment looked like how she would have imagined it. Fancy furniture with cream walls and a window gazing over the city. Emily watched the girl walk over to the window and look out about the city as Emily made her way over after hanging her coat up.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it" Emily smiled.

"Yeah," Carrie responded quietly. "I always had wanted to come here because I love American history. My brother would have loved…"

Carrie stopped talking and held the silence before Emily butted in, "I bet your hungry. I have a frozen pizza in the freezer that I can put in the oven and then I can give you a tour of the place."

"Okay," Carrie peeped. "That sounds fine."

Emily walked into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge and sighed before gathering herself together and getting the pizza in the oven. Emily headed back to find Carrie in the same spot.

"Carrie?" Emily said but the girl continued staring. "Carrie?"

"Oh sorry," Carrie responded. "I was just…looking."

"Don't worry," Emily said. "So tour. Well this is the living room as you can see. I have quite the arrangement of movies in the box next to the TV." Emily led the girl to the next room full of books which made Carrie's eyes widen, "This is the library slash office. Spencer gave me most of the books. You can read any of them if you like."

"Okay," Carrie said following Emily out and into the kitchen. "Obviously we have the kitchen here. There are all sorts of foods, but I also enjoy eating out because it can be easier with the job, but there is still fresh food the fridge and freezer. Over here is the dining room which I rarely use. Mostly I just eat at the island in the kitchen." Emily led Carrie down the hall to where the bedrooms were. "This first bedroom is mine, and down here will be your room."

Carrie walked in and looked around. The room was much larger than her old room and had a window with a view of the city which excited her. A queen bed was positioned against one wall with a closet close by.

"There is a bathroom off over there for you to use," Emily said. "I was thinking we could go out tomorrow or the next day and buy stuff to decorate the room to how you would like it to look. Its kinda plain right now because no one has used it and moved in about six months ago. I assume you will also want a desk so we can buy one."

"You don't have to," Carrie started. "I mean it costs money and you are already being generous enough and I don't have any money to pay for it."

"Carrie," Emily sighed, "I want to. This is the least I can do to make this seem more like home."

"Nothing will ever be like home," Carrie muttered.

"Carrie I know that," Emily started, immediately yelling at herself inside for her poor choice in words. She sat down on the edge of the bed and patted the spot next to her. "Here, come sit down. Carrie, I want you to understand that I have no means of making you pay for everything. I signed those papers saying that I will watch and care for you. I have no means of trying to fill the exact role that you parents did. No one can do that."

Carrie had kept her dead down knowing that if she looked at Emily she would break down, "I know."

"Okay then," Emily said, noticing the tears in Carrie's eyes placed a hand on the girl's shoulder comfortingly.

The timer rang for the pizza before Emily could figure out what to say to the girl who clearly was going to have a hard night.

"Um," Carrie started. "Can I go use the bathroom?"

"Of course," Emily smiled down at the girl. "I'm gonna go get the pizza out of the oven, so meet me in the kitchen when you are done."

Emily got up and walked out the kitchen and sighed. She carefully took the pizza out and cut two pieces to which she placed on a plate. Emily leaned against the counter and took her phone out of her pocket. There was a message from JJ which Emily had expected.

'How is everything going?'

'Fine right now. Carrie is trying to hide her emotions. I want to distract her right now until she settles down more before I try to talk to her.'

'Sounds like a good idea. You got this.'

'I honestly have no idea what I am doing right now.'

'You'll be fine. I am going to bed. Goodnight!'

'Goodnight, JJ.'

"Hi," Carrie said appearing at the entrance.

"Come sit down," Emily said motioning to a stool next to her. "Are you hungry?"

Carrie shrugged. Emily took that as a good answer and sat down next the the girl. Emily watched Carrie hesitate before finally taking a bite which made Emily relax and start eating.

"So, Carrie," Emily started, "What are some of you favorite activities?"

"Well," Carrie said. "I enjoy biking, piano, writing, reading, and at school I played soccer and was on the dive team."

"JJ loves soccer," Emily said. "I'm sure she would love to play a game against you sometime."

"Okay," Carrie said quietly.

"Do you like school?" Emily asked knowing that it had been what kept her alive when she was Carrie's age.

"I guess," Carrie replied. "I mean I get annoyed with all the homework but it can be kinda fun, and I want to go to college."

"Do you have a favorite subject?" Emily asked.

"I really enjoy history," Carrie chuckled as she admitted it. "Most people my age hate it but I find it interesting. I like studying everything that has happened and how it has affected relationship between countries and people throughout the years. It helps you understand why people treat one another, I guess."

"Kind of like profiling," Emily said smiling at the girl. "I also loved history."

"I would like to go to all of the places talked about in the textbooks," Carrie sighed.

"When I was your age I moved all around the world," Emily admitted. "My mom was a U.S. Ambassador so she kept us moving from place to place."

"Really?" Carrie said. "I would love that. I've never been out of the country and barely out of the state I was from."

"Well you still have a lot of time," Emily smiled catching Carrie yawn. "I think we should both think about going to bed."

"Yeah," Carrie replied.

"Do you need any help with anything?" Emily asked.

"No," Carrie replied quietly. "I'm just gonna go change and brush my teeth."

Emily nodded as the girl quietly turned and headed down the hall and then turned to cleaning up their late dinner. Carrie quietly walked down the hall. She knew Emily was just trying to be nice but was scared with how quickly Emily was trying to get to know her. Carrie sighed as she unzipped one of her bags and pulled out a pair of flannel pants and a t-shirt. She stepped into the bathroom and changed. She looked in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. She was still herself. She looked the same, maybe just a little tired, but she felt as if twenty years had passed. Carrie walked back into the room and climbed up onto the bed and stared out at the city. Emily appeared at the door.

"Ready?" Emily asked as Carrie nodded back and climbed under the blankets. "If you need anything you can come wake me."

"Okay," Carrie said trying to smile.

Emily walked out and closed the door to a crack. She walked into her room next door and got ready for bed herself. She climbed into her bed and lay down while flicking off her light. She stayed still for a while listening for Carrie but there was only silence. Emily wasn't sure if that was good or bad. She had no idea what was a good or bad sign right now. Emily rolled over onto her side and drifted off.

Emily woke quickly and looked at her clock to read it was 3:03. She had awakening to crying and screaming from the room over and knew that it could only be Carrie. Emily was in the other room at record time turning on a small light to see Carrie still asleep but thrashing around like the one time in the hospital when Emily had first met the young teen. Emily sat down on the edge of the bed grabbing Carrie's wrists while struggling to not get hit.

"Carrie," Emily said trying to remember what JJ had done a few days earlier when this had happened at the hospital. "Carrie wake up. Your safe. Carrie its okay."

Within moments Carrie gasped for air as she frantically looked around her trying to figure out where she was.

"Carrie," Emily cooed. "It's okay. Calm down. You're safe."

Carrie looked up at Emily and started sobbing and shaking. Her nightmare had appeared again. Every time it was repeating the event over and over. Carrie curled up into a ball sobbing and Emily scooted around next to her. Emily placed her hand on the girl shoulder noticing all the sweat on the girls head. Emily got up in search for a towel to wipe the girl's head off and a cup of water from the bathroom.

"Don't leave," Carrie begged.

"i'll be right back," Emily replied heartbroken at the sound of the girls voice.

Emily grabbed a washcloth and got one end wet and filled a glass with water before heading back to the girl who was rocking in a ball. Emily placed the cup in front of Carrie and watched as the girl took it and started to sip the water quietly. Emily took that moment to wipe the girl's forehead down and dry it carefully and placed the washcloth down on the table. Carrie was still sipping at the water and Emily ran her fingers through Carrie's dark hair and tucked it behind her ears and out of her face. Carrie finished the water and Emily placed the cup down next to the cloth and turned back to the girl who was still shaking. Emily placed a hand onto the girl's shoulder and Carrie instantly grabbed onto Emily. Emily pulled Carrie into her arms and held her as she felt Carrie crying against her.

"I had another dream," Carrie cried.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked while tracing shoulders on the girl's back.

"I'm scared to," Carrie sobbed.

"Well you are safe," Emily started. "You can tell be anything. I am right here."

"They-they were ba-back," Carrie said referring to the guys that had killed her family. "I was back at my house and they kept telling me that I did that to my parents and brother. And that it was my fault and how I was a failure. Then they killed my family again and made me watch."

"Carrie, shh," Emily cooed and Carrie buried her head tighter against Emily's shoulder. "Carrie I want you to understand that what happened was not your fault." Emily started running her fingers though Carrie's dark hair. "Do you understand that?"

"Yes," Carrie cried. "What if they come after me?"

"That will not happen," Emily sighed. "I'll make sure of that."

Carrie nodded and held onto Emily. Emily just let the girl stay there and could feel her relaxing more and more. Emily could feel Carrie growing more and more drowsy by the second and finally could feel the girl's breaths even out as Carrie went limp in Emily's arms. Emily lay the girl back down in the bed and pulled the covers up around Carrie before switching the light back off and making her way back to her own bed. Emily lay down and felt like crying for the girl. Carrie was a mess, which was expected and Emily was relieved how the girl was able to say with her for Carrie would never done well in the tricky foster care system. Within minutes Emily was back asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Emily woke up around 7:30 and instantly pulled herself out of bed to go check on Carrie. The girl was still asleep and so Emily shut the door quietly and made her way out to the kitchen. She put on a pot of coffee and pulled out the pancake mix which was one of the things she had managed to master cooking. Emily heated up the griddle and made enough pancakes for the two of them before placing the plate into the microwave hoping to keep it warm. She had no intention to wake Carrie up and only could hope the girl could get some sleep when she could between the nightmares. Emily poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down at the island and pulled out the latest Time magazine to read.

Around 9 Emily looked up to the sound of footsteps heading her way. Carrie rubbed her eyes as was blinded by the sun the glowed through the window as she approached Emily. Emily smiled at the girl. Carrie instantly nodded in embarrassment after remembering the night before. She was suppose to be brave. Not the girl was crying in someone's arms.

"Goodmorning," Emily said gently. "I made breakfast."

"Goodmorning," Carrie replied confused. "Morgan told me you couldn't cook."

Emily chuckled, "Let's put it this way: I can bake, make pancakes, and occasionally I cook a few other things. Don't listen to all of the things Morgan says. He talks a lot."

"Oh," Carrie said.

"Are you hungry?" Emily asked while getting up to pull the pancakes out.

"Yeah," Carrie replied. "Thanks for making breakfast."

"Anytime," Emily nodded as she pulled out the butter and syrup from the fridge.

Carrie sat down and again Emily waited until the girl started eating before she took a bite herself. Emily watched the girl eat quietly as she thought of ideas for the day. Emily looked over at Carrie whole looked distant and in a daze.

"Carrie," Emily started, "I was thinking that today I could give you a tour of the area and then we could just lay low for the rest of the day. And if you see anything while you are out that you like for your room or whatever we can get it."

Carrie blushed for she was confused why Emily was so willing to get her anything she needed, "Okay. Can I shower first?"

"Yes, of course you can," Emily said. "I was also about to jump in my shower. What's nice about living in an apartment building is that they don't run out of hot water so you can have multiple showers running at once."

"Okay," Carrie replied. Carrie took the final bite,"Thanks again for breakfast."

Carrie ran off to her room avoiding any eye contact with Emily. Emily sighed and placed their plates in the sink and then headed off to her shower. Carrie turned on her shower and got in. The hot water soothed her anxiety and for a minute she had forgotten about everything that had happened. Carrie wished that she could just stand there for hours but she knew Emily would start to worry and that was the last thing Carrie wanted. Carrie climbed out and dried her hair quickly. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked the same as she had the week before, but everything else was different. Carrie quickly pulled on her jeans, v-neck shirt and a pair of small boots. She slid her green windbreaker and headed out. Emily was at the hall closet taking her black coat out and then noticed the girl.

"Ready?" Emily asked.

"Yep," Carrie said trying to smile.

"Okay," Emily smiled as they headed out.

Emily instinctively placed a hand on Carrie's shoulder as they headed down the busy street. Carrie smiled slightly at the gesture and didn't protest because she felt safer. She didn't know why she felt this way for when her mother or father had done so she would have shrugged them off. Emily talked about each building as they walked making sure the young girl knew which ones were safer than others. Carrie couldn't help but to find it entertaining how Emily knew everything on every building. Emily would stop Carrie every now and then to ask her opinion on something placed in the window of a shop.

"Hey do you mind going in here?" Emily asked as they stood outside a small shop.

"No," Carrie responded. "What do they have in there?"

"They import hand crafted goods from around the world," Emily smiled. "I love looking at everything."

"Okay," Carrie said following Emily in.

The store was quiet with different people looking at everything. Emily stepped away from Carrie and Carrie pulled away her eye caught on something on the other side of the shop. Emily nodded and watched the girl out of her vision. She was surprised Carrie was pulling away after getting closer and closer to Emily as they walked down the street. Emily watched the girl walk over to something that was out of Emily's view. Emily kept busy looking at different bowls as Carrie stood in the same spot. Carrie stood holding a sculpture made out of different metal and glass pieces to form a lizard. She smiled at. It reminded her of her favorite summer camp that she had always attended where lizards ran everywhere and when she was little she would try to catch them. Emily noticed how relaxed Carrie looked while holding whatever the girl was holding so she turned back to what she was doing. Carrie noticed someone walk up to her.

"Isn't that beautiful?" A woman with gray hair said as Carrie noticed the woman worked here. "It was made in Ecuador."

"Yeah," Carrie said softly looking to see where Emily was. "I really like it. It's different, but that's why I like it."

"Aren't you supposed to be in school?" The lady asked. "It's Thursday."

"Yeah," Carrie responded. "I am not in school right now. It's…It's complicated. I kinda just moved here."

"Oh okay," the woman said. "Sorry, I was just doing my job. Would you like to purchase that?"

Carrie looked at the price and seeing that it was 65 dollars she set it down, "I don't think I can get it right now."

"That's okay," the woman said. "I can put it on hold?"

"Um, no thank you," Carrie said. "I don't have to money right now."

"Oh okay, dear," the lady said.

Carrie awkwardly turned and headed back into the shop. Emily had noticed how Carrie had tensed up as she walked away. Emily walked over to the gray haired lady.

"Excuse me?" Emily said as the woman turned to her. "What was that girl looking at?"

"This sculpture," the lady replied picking up the lizard. "She said she didn't have the money for it. She really liked it though."

"I could tell," Emily said. "I'll purchase it."

"Okay," the lady said leading Emily over to the counter. "Do you know the girl?"

"Yes, Carrie," Emily smiled.

"She said she just moved here," the lady said.

"Yeah," Emily said. "It was a quick move for her."

"Okay will that be it for today?" the lady asked.

"Yes," Emily said taking the bag and placing it in her purse. "Thank you."

"Anytime," the lady said.

Emily made her way over to the plate as Carrie appeared at her side.

"Are you ready to go?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Emily replied.

The two headed out and Carrie shifted closer towards Emily. Emily smiled down at the girl and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder which relaxed Carrie. They stopped at a small market that seemed to carry everything that was organic. Emily picked up some basic foods for the apartment and then they headed back. Carrie followed Emily back in to the apartment and went into her room to take her shoes and coat off.

"Carrie?" Emily called.

"Yes?" Carrie yelled back.

"I was going to make some lunch," Emily said. "Would you like some? I was thinking just a sandwich and some carrots or something simple."

"Yeah that fine," Carrie said back. Carrie walked over to her window at looked out for about five minutes before she heard Emily call her. It was a new big city full of weary dreaded feeling. Carrie walked down the hall to find Emily putting together two sandwiches.

"Bon Appetit," Emily said.

Carrie noticed how good Emily's French sounded. She always had struggled in school with French, "These look good."

"Yeah,' Emily replied. "I basically survived through college by eating sandwiches."

"Ha," Carrie replied.

"Oh, Carrie," Emily said reaching down for the bag. "I got you something."

Carrie took the bag and pulled out the lizard sculpture. She was speechless for a second, "Thank you. I mean you didn't have to. It was expensive."

"Carrie I wanted to," Emily smiled at the girl who looked so delicate right now. "I could that you really liked it."

Carrie walked over to Emily and awkwardly hugged her before running off, "I know where to put it."

Carrie ran into her room and walked over to the window ledge and placed the lizard down. She didn't know exactly what to do. Emily was being so nice and welcoming. Carrie hadn't done anything and couldn't help but to feel guilty. Emily had noticed Carrie had been trying to cry and herself was in shock over how the girl was so moved by the small lizard. Carrie made her way back into the kitchen and sat down next to Emily.

"Thank you," Carrie said again.

"You're welcome," Emily grinned. "Lets eat. I was thinking afterwards we could just change into comfy clothes and watch a movie. JJ said she was going to come over for dinner. She made a lot of food the other day and doesn't want it going to waste." Carrie gave her an odd look. "JJ is a great cook. Don't worry. Is that fine with you?"

"Yeah," Carrie said as they ate. "So are you and JJ good friends?"

"Yeah," Emily said. "When I started working for the team she was just starting to actually work in the field so I helped her out. We were the only girls besides our tech analyst Penelope, who is planning to stop by tomorrow when I think about it, so JJ and I stuck together. She is like the sister I always wanted."

"Does she have a family?" Carrie asked.

"Her parents live not too far away," Emily said, "But she isn't married and has no kids. But she's been dating a few different guys."

"Oh," Carrie said. She was doing anything to not talk about herself. "What about you?"

"Never married," Emily said. "Don't know if I will ever be."

"Okay," said Carrie noticing how Emily seemed to not like talking about herself.

Emily finished her last bite and noticed Carrie was also done, "Let's go change and then you can pick a movie."

"Okay," Carrie said as she rinsed off her plate after Emily and headed to her room. She pulled out an old soccer sweatshirt and then a pair of flannel pajama pants. Carrie headed back out to the living room and opened the cabinet. There was plenty to choose from, but Carrie's favorite movie, Forrest Gump, stood out as being the one.

"Did you find one?" Emily asked as she came in wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a dark FBI crew neck sweatshirt.

"Yeah. Forrest Gump," Carrie replied. "I have always loved that movie."

"Me too," Emily smiled.

Emily took the disk out and set the movie up as Carrie stood awkwardly. Emily took one corner of the crème couch as Carrie then curled on the other side. The movie played quietly and Emily could tell the girl wasn't fully watching.

"So, you like lizards?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Carrie smiled. "I go to this summer camp where they have tons of lizards everywhere. I would try to catch them. Especially when I was little. I used to be too scared to talk to anyone so I would just try to catch them and talk to them."

"Okay," Emily replied.

They kept watching the movie and about halfway through Carrie had fallen asleep peacefully. Emily smiled over at the young teen. Any sleep Carrie could get would do her fine. Emily watched the girl sleeping more and more. Eventually the movie ended and Emily switched the TV over to the news. She didn't particularly like all the politics and then eventually settled on watching an ice hockey game that was being filmed. Eventually around 5:30, Emily went over to the door after hearing a knock.

"Hi JJ," Emily said quietly. "Come in."

"Hi," JJ replied. "Where's Carrie?"

"Sleeping on the couch," Emily nodded towards the direction of the living room. "Let's go to the kitchen to talk."

"Oh okay," JJ replied following Emily. "So how has it been?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "She had a rough night with another nightmare, but she went back to sleep and slept well the rest of the time."

"That's expected," JJ reassured Emily. "Has she said much?"

"She talks," Emily shrugged. "She will talk about things but has not mentioned her family. She started once but then ended the conversation quickly. She fell in love with a lizard sculpture that we saw when we went out so I could show her around. She looked like she was going to cry when I gave it to her."

"She'll get better, Em," JJ noted to the brunette standing across from her. "It just takes time."

"I know," Emily nodded.

"It took me a while to talk about my sister after she died," JJ shared.

"I hope she just knows she can talk to me or anyone," Emily said.

"I think she does," JJ replied. "I think she may just be scared to share her feelings. We should start heating up the dinner."

Emily and JJ worked in the kitchen preparing a salad and a brisket for dinner. After an hour or so footsteps could be heard coming their way.

"Hi Carrie," JJ said walking over to the girl and giving her a hug.

Carrie hesitated for a moment before returning the hug, "Hi JJ."

JJ hadn't seen Carrie since they left the plane the other day but Carrie already looked slightly better than she had been from the last time JJ had seen the girl. Carrie pulled back from the hug and walked over to the island and took a seat. Emily smiled at the girl as she took the ingredients out to make a salad.

"Hey," Emily said. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," Carrie quietly replied. "What's for dinner?"

"Lasagna," Emily replied and then caught a look on Carrie's face. "Don't worry, I was not involved with making it at all. JJ did all of that."

"And I can actually cook," JJ budded in.

"Maybe you should take a cooking class, Emily," Carrie said with a smirk on her face.

"She did," JJ told the girl. "She was the one who set the smoke alarm off during one of the sessions."

"Really?" Carrie exclaimed.

"Yes," Emily said and then continued to defend herself, "But it wasn't my fault. The teacher said to put the dish in the oven and bake it but she didn't specify what type of dish to put it in, so I put it on a cookie pan and yeah it didn't work."

"Maybe you should have asked," Carrie suggested, "And what type of dish was it?"

"Meatloaf," Emily said quietly getting a disapproving face from the teen. "Carrie, how about you go set the table. There isn't enough chair for us to eat in the kitchen so we will eat in the dining room."

"Okay," Carrie smiled and gathered the utensils, dishes and glasses on a tray glad that Emily was finally letting her help with something.

When Carrie was gone JJ spoke up, "Well she seems to be doing better."

"Yeah," Emily signed. "She hasn't mentioned much about what happened and is doing a good job at avoiding the subject."

"She'll open up eventually," JJ reassured Emily. "She is still adjusting and learning to trust you."

"I know," Emily sighed. "I just hope it doesn't hurt her from hiding everything."

"She'll be fine," JJ smiled. "She has you and the team if she needs anything."

The timer went off and JJ took the lasagna out of the oven and over into the dining room to where Carrie was looking out the window at all the lights of the city. JJ placed the lasagna down on the table and walked over next to the girl.

"It's a big city," JJ said.

"Yeah, but it's beautiful," Carrie admitted "You can't see the stars in the sky here but the lights from the buildings mimic that."

"Yeah I see that," JJ said. "I grew up in a small down where you could see the stars every night and that is one of the things I miss. But, you know, whenever you get out into the countryside it makes you respect and appreciate the sky even more."

"Yeah," Carrie said softly.

Emily had listened to their conversation from the doorway but had decided not to come in until they were finished, glad that Carrie was talking to JJ. Emily walked in eventually and placed the salad down on the table.

"Okay, let's," Emily smiled. "I am starving."

The three placed themselves at the table with Emily at the head, JJ on one side, and Carrie on the other. They only took up a small section of the table which looked strange to Carrie but the refocused her attention to the food and dished herself a plate.

"This is really good," Carrie applauded JJ.

"Thank you," JJ smiled. "It's my mom's recipe."

"You said you grew up in a small town?" Carrie asked JJ.

"Yeah," JJ responded. "A small town outside of Pittsburg. One of those towns where everything revolves around corn-fed high schoolers playing their sports. So now I'm the big shot who left and lives here now."

"Yeah," Carrie said. "Emily said you played soccer."

"Yep," JJ replied. "What sports do you play."

"Soccer and diving mostly," Carrie said. "And I also rock climb like everyone else."

"Did you play for your school?" JJ asked.

"Yeah for a little," Carrie replied between bites. "I stopped so I could focus on school. I had to take seven classes, and one was really stupid."

"Which one?" Emily asked.

"Spanish," Carrie mumbled. "I already speak it so it was stupid that they would make me take it. Well it was an easy A at least."

"Bueno siempre hay un lado brillante," Emily said to the girl.

"You know Spanish?" Carrie asked.

'Yes," Emily responded.

"And Arabic, French, Italian, and Russian," JJ added with sigh.

Carrie gave Emily a weird look, "How do you know all of those languages?"

"Well," Emily started, "I moved around a lot as a child. My mom," Emily sighed, "is an ambassador so I moved around a lot when I was little and had to learn the languages. That is probably the only thing I enjoyed about my mom and her job."

Carrie gave her a strange look and was about to ask a question but decided that it wasn't smart and turned back to eating quietly. JJ started a conversation with Emily about some research Reid was conducting but Carrie spaced out and looked out the window at the lights. After a while when dinner was finished Carrie began to yawn. Emily caught sight of it and got up to start clearing dished. JJ could see the young teen was beginning to fade and decided she should head home soon.

"Do you need any help with the dishes, Em?" JJ asked.

"No, I can handle them," Emily nodded. "You get home because you have to work tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" JJ asked hating how Emily always wanted the best for others without caring if she was sacrificing herself.

"Positive," Emily replied leading JJ to the door and handing JJ her coat.

"Bye, Em," JJ said giving Emily a quick hug. The blonde then turned to Carrie and rubbed her shoulder. "By Carrie. Call me if you need anything."

Carrie nodded. JJ knew it was going to be unlikely for the girl to ever reach out to her if she was having trouble but it was worth a shot to try to connect to the girl. Emily headed to do the dishes as Carrie quietly retreated her room. She sat down on the bed with one of Rossie's books and began reading. Emily did the dishes quickly reviewing how the day had gone. Surprisingly it had gone well. No breakdowns, or fighting, or any other things Emily had worried about. Emily dried her hands and walked down to Carrie's room and leaned on the doorway.

"Hey," Emily said.

The girl looked up from the book, "Hi."

"You should go to bed soon," Emily suggested. "It's getting late and I want you to be well rested because I was thinking we could go to the mall and look at all the monuments, if that's alright with you.'

"Um, sure," Carrie responded. "You don't have to work?"

"They gave me some time off. Goodnight," Emily said awkwardly. "Come get me if you need anything."

"Yeah, okay," Carrie stuttered placing her book on the bedside table and climbing under the covers. "Goodnight."

Emily smiled at the girl and flicked the light switch off and headed to her own room. Carrie sighed and looked over and out the window. She listened to Emily run the shower and walk around for a hour before footsteps and movements grew silent. Not being able to sleep, Carrie sat up and stared out the window at all the lights. They calmed her for some reason. Maybe they reminded her that she was not alone in this big city or maybe they were a sign of hope. After another hour Carrie felt herself leaning back and then drifted off to a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

"Morning," Emily whispered nudging the sleeping teens shoulder.

Carrie moaned and rolled shaking Emily off before opening her eye. Startled by the light that came in the room, Carrie rat up and rubbed her eyes noticing Emily was standing by her bed.

"Hey," Emily smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," Carrie yawned. She was lying. She had had no bad dreams but still found that herself moving and shifting in and out of sleep.

"Good," Emily replied knowing that that wasn't the full truth but didn't press the teen any further. "I was thinking you could get ready and then we could head down the block to the bagel shop to get something to eat and then head off for the day."

"Okay," Carrie replied. "I can be ready in ten minutes."

"Great," Emily said and then walked out of the room to give the girl some privacy.

Carrie quickly brushed her hair and got dressed in jeans and a blue shirt before grabbing her coat and heading out. Emily was ready like normal and smiled at the girl as they headed out. Breakfast was quiet with some talk about where they should go first. Emily was pleased that Carrie was eating well after getting reports that the girl had refused to eat much when she was in the hospital. Emily and Carrie then headed to the car and were off.

The Lincoln Memorial was much larger than Carrie had expected it to be, and to her disappointment the White House was much smaller than how it appeared in textbooks. Emily had laughed when the girl had said "This is it?" when they stood outside the gates. For the most part Carrie had seemed very interested in everything w was able to recount dates of important historical events that each person had been a part of. Emily was pleased with the girl's love for a subject that most kids her age hated and that she too could discuss events with the girl and then laugh over it. The two ate lunch at a small sandwich place discussing the latest politics. Much to both their excitement, they agreed on most things and found it fun to make fun of some of the ridiculous things that would happen.

"Where do you know all this stuff from?" Emily asked the girl.

"I was in a debate club where we would have to know everything going on," Carrie shrugged. "And I was also in Model UN."

"Well that's good," Emily said. "Well it looks like we just have to go to the Roosevelt Memorial."

"Great," Carrie replied. "I loved all the other ones. They were really cool. I wonder what I would have to do to get one?"

"Well," Emily said. "Right now, it seems like you have to do something great and be a man."

Carrie laughed, "That is kinda true, but hopefully that will change."

"Wouldn't that be nice?" Emily smiled.

Emily and Carrie loved the Roosevelt memorial. There was water and statues, and to both of their amusement a little statue of Roosevelt's dog. Carrie laughed at that as they headed out and back to the car. Emily smiled as she decided last minute to drive to a shopping mall. Carrie looked out the car with confusion. Emily quickly found a parking spot and reached down into her purse.

"I have two things for you," Emily said. "Reid dropped it off this morning before you were up. Here is a cell phone. I travel and may need to get a hold of you so I suppose you needed one. I put all the teams contacts in it so you can get a hold of one of us. And here is a credit card. It is linked to my account and there is money on it already and I will transferring a weekly allowance onto it especially because when I travel you will need things."

"Um," Carrie started still in shock. "You didn't have to. I mean I had my own money already and before I never had a phone and this is a Blackberry so it is expensive."

"Carrie," Emily laughed. "I want to."

"Okay," Carrie sighed.

"Good," Emily smiled. "I was thinking that we could pick up anything for your room and any clothes or things you wanted."

"Um, okay," Carrie nodded.

Emily could tell the girl was tense and so she reassured the girl, "Carrie, relax. I am paying and I want to."

"Okay," Carrie said.

The two headed in and made their way from store to store. Carrie was very hesitant but eventually; much to Emily's relief, Carrie picked out a blue, gray, and green flower bedspread and a soft throw. Emily convinced the teen that she needed a desk and a bookcase and they were not going to leave until Carrie found one she liked. It took a little while but both of them fell in love with a beautiful wood desk and bookcase that would look nice in the room. Emily had pointed out a Sherpa bean bag that would be nice for the room and Carrie agreed. Emily payed and made sure that the furniture would be shipped in tomorrow to her apartment. Before the left, Emily pulled Carrie into a shop full of nice dresses and outfits. Emily looked around trying to find a new suit for work. Carrie made her way around to admiring all of the dresses. She didn't really have one. After a little while of looking Emily made her way over to the teen.

"That's a pretty dress," Emily commented to Carrie who was looking at a simple purple knit dress.

"Yeah, it's pretty," Carrie smiled.

"Try it on," Emily suggested.

"Um, okay," Carrie smiled.

Emily got Carrie a dressing room and then waited outside checking in with the team that had picked up a local case. Carrie meanwhile put on the dress and looked in the mirror. It was pretty and looked good on her, but it was expensive. She stepped out of the dressing room. Emily looked up and smiled at the girl.

"Carrie," Emily exclaimed. "I love that. It looks great on you."

"Thanks," Carrie said slightly embarrassed.

"I think we should get it," Emily expressed.

Carrie wanted to protest, for Emily had already spent so much money on her, but decided that Emily wasn't going to change her mind and it was no use protesting, 'Okay. Thanks."

They paid for the dress and headed to the car. They decided to pick up Chinese food as they headed back to the apartment. Dinner consisted of a continuation of a conversation of politics from earlier. Carrie was already excited for the election next year but was annoyed that she was only 16 and by then only be year off from being allowed to vote. Emily laughed at the girl who was already so interested in things most adults dreaded. The two made a plan for the next day to visit the American History Smithsonian museum. After dinner Carrie eagerly helped Emily with doing the dishes and then they headed to Carrie's room. Emily helped Carrie put the bedspread on which Emily noticed looked really nice in in her room. Carrie decided that she was going to take a shower and then read while Emily had to finish work related things. Emily till had to write a report on Carrie's case but didn't tell the girl that knowing that Carrie would freak out if she knew that that is what Emily was doing. After two hours or so, Emily noticed how quiet the room next door had gotten. Emily made her way over to find Carrie sound a sleep with a book on her chest. Emily giggled quietly remembering how many times she had done that as a teen. Emily walked over to the girl quietly sliding the book off of Carrie and placed it on the bedside table before flicking off the lighted and heading back to her bed.

Carrie was up before Emily and was extremely hungry. Not wanting to wake Emily, Carrie quietly headed to the kitchen and made herself a bowl of cereal and got herself a glass of orange juice. She had picked up the copy of newspaper that had been delivered through the mail slot. Carrie quietly sat their reading and eating.

Emily woke up shortly after and made her way to check on Carrie. Emily panicked when Carrie was not in her bed or bathroom. Emily could hear small clinks coming from the kitchen and took a sigh of relief when she saw the girl peacefully eating and reading. Emily walked in and began to get the coffee running.

"Hey," Emily smiled. "You're up early."

"Yeah," Carrie smiled.

"Sleep well?" Emily asked the girl concerned.

"Fine," Carrie nodded which was the truth. "You?"

"Great," Emily replied getting a cup of coffee and bowl of cereal. "Anything interesting happening in the news?"

"No, not really," Carrie replied. "Same old usual stuff I guess."

"Darn," Emily laughed. "So do you want to head out soon?"

"Yeah," Carrie replied excitedly.

"Great," Emily smiled.

The museum was fun. Emily enjoyed looking at all the things as much as Carrie did. Carrie would tell Emily the history of everything they saw which Emily found highly amusing. She loved it though, for she was glad a teen could take interest in a strong topic. Emily smiled at the girl's reaction to everything they had. After a few hours they decided to go get lunch. Emily waited for Carrie to head to the bathroom before taking her phone out to check her messages. She groaned as she read that her team wanted her to come in this afternoon to help them get a fresh look at the case they were working on. Carrie came back and saw the expression on Emily's face and got worried.

"Is everything okay/" Carrie asked.

"Yeah," Emily started, "But we will have to go into the office today because they want me to look at a case they are handling to see if I can see anything that they are missing. I mean, if it's alright with you. We have to stop back at the apartment so you could grab something to do while we are there."

"Okay," nodded. "Yeah it's completely fine."

Emily drove quietly out to Quantico. She was worried that Carrie would feel abandoned. Likewise, Carrie was glad Emily was willing to work for she had feared that Emily getting annoyed that she had to entertain Carrie all day. They made it to the building and headed in. Carrie slid on a FBI pass so she could go with Emily. Carrie wasn't sure what to expect the building to be like but it wasn't all insane like the way movies depicted it to be. Emily led Carrie to a big open room full of people working. Carrie could see the team. She hadn't seen most of them since she left the plane and feared that they would start questioning her. Emily felt Carrie move closer to her they approached the team and gave the team a reassure smile.

"Hey guys," Emily smiled.

"Hi you two," JJ said.

"Hi," Carrie said quietly.

"Hey Carrie," Reid said. "Do you like DC?"

"Yeah," Carrie replied. She was beginning to feel more comfortable. "It's cool."

"It's a great city," Morgan replied.

"Guys we should get to work," Hotch said walking up to the group noticing Carrie. "Hi Carrie. I promise it won't take too long. If you want to can go sit in my office. There are a few chairs in there and it is quiet so you could easily read."

Carrie looked up to Emily who nodded before replying, "Okay."

"It's the first door right up there," Hotch said pointing Carrie in the right direction.

Carrie headed up and went in and took a seat on a chair. The room was dim and Carrie found it relaxing. She looked around to see a picture of a young boy with Hotch. That must have been his kid. Emily hadn't told her too much about the team which was okay. Emily had watched Carrie walk over there before heading off with the team to the conference room.

"Where is Carrie?" Garcia exclaimed when she saw Emily. "I want to meet her."

"Well hello to you too," Emily laughed. "In Hotch's office. Please don't scare her."

"Why would I do that," Garcia said before bounding out of the office.

Emily shook her head as she opened the case file. She read through it quickly as the rest of the members filed in the room and took their seats. Four people had been stabbed and then were placed with their heads wrapped in towels. Meanwhile, Garcia made her way to Hotch's office and knocked quietly before opening the door. Emily had been right about Carrie being shy and so Garcia quietly stepped into the room. Carrie looked up from her book slightly confused.

"Hi," Garcia. "I'm Penelope Garcia. The tech person who is basically their lifeline and guardian angel-unicorn princess."

Carrie had been told about Garcia by Emily and JJ and couldn't help but being amused by all of Garcia's bright pieces that she was wearing. Carrie had been warned that Garcia had lots of energy and was the one who would spoil her.

"Hi," Carrie said. "As you know I'm Carrie."

"Yeah, I know," Garcia smiled. I kinda read your school report and any article about you. You drive, play soccer, and rock climb. Oh and you used to sing in choir."

"Umm," Carrie said a little scared. "Yeah."

"Sorry," Garcia said mentally kicking herself from scaring the girl. "I like to know things about people. But if you ever get in trouble with Emily I could try to change any record like on your phone unless Emily interrogates me. I always lose when she does that."

Carrie laughed at Garcia and knew why Emily loved Garcia so much, "Good to know."

"Yeah I just wanted to say hi and make sure you knew who I was," Garcia smiled.

Just then there was another knock on the door and Rossi walked in, "I hope I am not interrupting anything."

"No you're fine, sir," Garcia said quickly.

"I didn't get to fully introduce myself earlier," Rossi said walking over to Carrie and stuck out a hand. "David Rossi."

"Nice to meet you, sir," Carrie smiled.

"So has Emily driven you crazy yet?" Rossi jokes.

"No," Carrie grinned.

"She might," Rossi smiled. "School will seem like a relief. Wait, are you reading my book?"

"Yeah," Carrie said. "My psychology teacher talked about your work and so I saw the book the other day and decided to read it."

"I knew I liked you," Rossi said.

"Hey guys," Emily smiled leaning in from the doorway. "Carrie, I'm finished and we can leave now if you want."

"Okay," Carrie said.

Rossi, Carrie, and Emily walked back out into the bullpen where Morgan and Garcia were teasing each other and JJ looked like she was getting an earful of some subject from Reid. Carrie smiled at the scene. They all seemed like nice people which Carrie admired.

"Hey everybody," Rossi yelled. "Dinner at my place sometime soon?"

"Great," Emily said. "I don't have to cook."

"You hardly ever cook," Carrie said back receiving a high five from Morgan.

Emily laughed, "Come on Carrie, let's head home and we can make something."

They headed out and stopped at the store on the way back. Emily had set up the kitchen and Carrie made her way wearing sweatpants and a sweater. The two prepared chicken and cut up peppers and onions for a stir-fry which Carrie reassured Emily that they would be able to make.

"So does Hotch have a son?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," Emily started, "He is married to Halley and they have a son named Jack. Cute kid."

"What about the others?" Carrie asked.

"Morgan dates around," Emily smiled. "JJ is single, Reid has no idea what a relationship is, Garcia is single, and Rossi has like three ex-wives and no kids."

"Okay," Carrie said. "And you."

Emily looked away from the stove where the food was almost done cooking, "Um, I am single, and have a mother and a father who are divorced except for on holiday, and a brother. That's it."

"You never married anyone or thought about it?" Carrie asked shocked. Emily was smart and pretty which made Carrie think she would have had no issue finding someone.

"Nope," Emily smiled while dishing two plates of food up. "I kinda am a huge nerd and so relationships never seem to work."

The two sat down and Carrie finally got the courage to ask Emily the question she had really been thinking about.

"Um, Emily?" Carrie started. "I was wondering when I was going to start school and where?"

"I'll be right back," Emily said getting up to go to her purse. "I picked these two up. Both of them are good schools and whenever you are ready you can go back to school."

Carrie took the two brochures from Emily. Holton-Arms School and The Potomac School. Carrie glazed through them. She realized they were both private schools and were costly.

"Um, Emily," Carrie started but Emily cut her off.

"I know," Emily started, "they are private schools that cost money but they provide a great education and small class sizes which are good. Also my father has put away money for me for years to use for future use and so does my mother so it's okay."

"Well okay," Carrie smiled.

"I was thinking we could tour them sometime soon," Emily smiled. "I already them your school records and they told me both that you would be able to fit in. I mean we need to look at them first."

"Yeah," Carrie smiled. "So tomorrow then?"

"Yes," Emily smiled.

The rest of the evening was rather easy. The two decided to watch a soccer game that was on tv before Carrie decided to go shower. Emily took that time to call the schools to let them know that they were for use coming tomorrow. Emily eventually headed down the hall to find Carrie already in bed and so she made her way to bed to.

Carrie woke up in the middle of the night panting from the same nightmare. She sat and looked out the window for a while. She didn't hear Emily and decided not to get her. Emily was skipping work and was doing everything for her. Carrie thought there could be no good families but the team was like the perfect family. Rossi as the caring and knowledgeable grandfather, Hotch and the strict fearless father, Garcia as the caring and silly mom, Emily and JJ being loving sisters, Morgan as the protective older brother, and Reid as the smart little brother who was socially awkward. Carrie was the one invading this. The bad luck she seemed to carry with her could hurt them. Carrie lay down on the bed and sighed before closing her eyes and trying to go back to sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

Carrie got up before Emily again and got a bowl of cereal. She ate it quickly before turning on the tv to watch the morning cartoons. Emily woke up to the sound of it and made her way out.

"Goodmorning," Emily smiled.

"Morning," Carrie said quickly trying to look concentrated on the tv. She wasn't paying attention to the show but it was better than talking to Emily at the moment.

Emily walked into the kitchen and made her breakfast. She could tell the teen wanted space and was trying to avoid. Emily decided she would just go about filling in the remainder of the foster papers and getting health care and insurance things set up for the teen. The morning therefore remained quiet and each stayed in complete opposite sides of the room or in different rooms. Carrie was fine with it and ignored anything Emily did to try to get close to her. Carrie got up and walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to get food.

"Hey," Emily said walking into the kitchen and leaned against the door frame. "Are you getting lunch?"

"Yeah," Carrie said nodding.

"I can make something," Emily suggested.

"Well you ate later then me," Carrie said, "You probably aren't hungry so I'll just get something for myself."

"Okay," Emily said and walked out of the room and rolled her eyes. She knew this was bound to happen but was a little concerned about how fast the teens mood had changed.

The afternoon stayed the same with a short dinner and Carrie claiming she was tired and going to bed earlier. Emily checked in around 11:30 when she was going to bed only to find the girl fast asleep. Carrie woke up again from the same dream but quickly went back to sleep in order to not wake Emily up. The next day was the exact same as the day before with each one staying away from the other.

Emily made sure she was up before Carrie the next day quickly made eggs and toast for them to eat. Carrie made her way into the kitchen a little shocked to see Emily there.

Emily patted the seat next to her, "I made eggs and toast."

Carrie nodded and sat down quietly trying to ignore Emily's presence.

"Carrie," Emily said. "Talk to me."

The girl kept looking down so Emily turned the girl's chin towards her and so Carrie was looking at her.

"What?" Carrie said.

"Is everything okay?" Emily said. "You haven't said anything in two days and are ignoring me."

"It's nothing," Carrie said, "I'm just tired."

"Okay," Emily said suspiciously letting go of the teen's chin. "So Rossi is going to have everyone over for dinner and so I think it would be nice if we go."

Carrie knew she couldn't say that she would rather just lock herself in the bedroom, "Sure."

"Okay," Emily smiled.

Carrie smiled quickly back.

"And there is something else I want to talk about," Emily said. "The team is trying to deal with a case and it involves my specialty so I was wondering if you would mind if I went into work for a few hours today?"

"Yeah," Carrie nodded. "I don't mind."

"Okay," Emily said. "I am going to get ready."

Emily and Carrie were both relieved that they didn't have to be uncomfortable in the same house for a while. Carrie went to watch tv. Emily came out a little later in work clothes and grabbed her bag.

"Okay," Emily said. "If you need anything I put all the numbers of everyone on the team into your phone and they are in the kitchen too by the phone. Are you sure you are okay with this?"

"Yeah," Carrie nodded.

"Okay," Emily said. "I will back around four and we will head over around six to Rossi's."

"Okay," Carrie said.

"Bye," Emily said as she walked out the door.

"Bye," Carrie said. She was happy she had the house to her herself and went to reading a book.

Emily made her way into the round table room and saw the team.

"Hey," Emily said. "I'm here."

"Is Carrie okay with this?" Hotch asked.

"Yeah," Emily said. "I think it is good for both of us."

JJ sent over a look and Emily sent back a look of 'I'll tell you later'. The team quickly discussed the case and each decided to head out to meet with people and figure out the case. For the most part it seemed they knew who they were looking for but they still wanted to cross everything with the local police and one of the victims who was in the hospital. JJ and Emily headed out together and were set to go meet with the victim in the hospital.

"So," JJ said as she drove, "What is happening?"

"Well," Emily started, "Carrie is ignoring me and is avoiding talking to me or even trying to be around me."

"So she is trying to distance herself," JJ said. "I mean that is expected."

"I don't care," Emily said. "I mean I was that way with my mom. God, I was worse, but then again it was my mom."

"I wasn't that way," JJ said. "I mean I think it is expected. New place, new people, new home. I mean she just lost her family, she doesn't want to attach to someone who she doesn't fully know or trust because she feels probably like an intruder or that she will lose all of it."

"You know Jennifer Jareau," Emily smiled, "You are very smart."

JJ smiled and blushed, "Yeah well I have to try to keep up with you and the rest of the team. I wouldn't worry. Carrie will come around. How has she been sleeping?"

"I haven't fully noticed much," Emily said. "She hasn't screamed. I have heard her move around but not like some of the times in the past."

"Well," JJ said. "Maybe that is what is causing this."

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "I am trying to figure that out."

"Well we are here," JJ said as they arrived at the hospital.

"Remember the last time we were at one," Emily said.

They both gave a little chuckle.

"It was a life changer," JJ said. "Well we are meeting a 45 year old drug dealer who was shot so no chance of anything happening."

Emily sighed, "Yeah."

On the other side, Carrie had decided to read another one of Emily's books. This one was about different mobs that ran different cities. She was intrigued by it and before she knew it, it was three. Carrie decided to shower. The water calmed her always. She was nervous about the dinner and being around the whole team. Carrie knew that Hotch was bringing his wife and son and was excited to meet them. She still didn't feel comfortable around the team and knew there had been some dispute over if Emily should have taken Carrie. Carrie got out of the shower and put on her sweat pants and lay down on the bed to take a nap.

Emily got back around four and called out for Carrie and got no response. She instantly went into panic mode and started checking the rooms for the girl. Emily relaxed once she saw the teen asleep and decided not to wake her. Around five thirty Emily went in and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Carrie," Emily said softly rubbing the teens shoulder.

Carrie groaned and started to stir. "When did you get back?"

"Like an hour ago," Emily said. "I thought I would let you sleep."

"Thanks," Carrie said. "So um…what should I wear tonight?"

"How about the purple dress," Emily suggested.

"Okay," Carrie nodded and got out of bed.

"I'm gonna go get ready," Emily smiled and headed out of the room.

Carrie came out of the room in the new dress, black tights, and short black boots.

"You look very nice," Emily said smiling at the teen.

"Thanks," Carrie smiled.

Emily drove as Carrie eagerly looked out the window taking in the surroundings of her new city. The two pulled up outside of Rossi's place and headed in. Carrie realized it was fancy which she kind of expected with everything he had accomplished.

"Hey everyone," Emily called as they made their way into the kitchen where everyone was.

"Aunt Emily," a little boy yelled running up to Emily.

"Hi Jack," Emily smiled at the boy.

"Who's that?" Jack asked referring to Carrie.

"This is Carrie," Emily said. "She is going to live with me."

"So are you like her mommy?" Jack asked.

"Not exactly, Jack," Emily replied realizing how it must have been awkward for Carrie. "Jack can you say 'hi' to Carrie?"

"Hi, Carrie," Jack smiled.

"Hi Jack," Carrie smiled back. "How old are you?"

"Three," Jack grinned before taking off back to his father.

"He's cute," Carrie said.

"Yeah he definitely doesn't take after his father," Morgan said coming up to them.

JJ came behind them.

"Hi Carrie," JJ said smiling at the teen.

"Hi," Carrie sighed as JJ pulled her in for a hug.

"Hey Jack," JJ said. "How about you show Carrie where she is sitting."

"Okay," Jack giggled and he grabbed onto Carrie and pulled her forwards.

"Well she seems to be talking more now," Emily said. "You can tell she is uncomfortable."

"That's why I sent Jack with her," JJ said. "Come on, let's go sit down."

Dinner was great. Rossi had prepared his fabulous Italian dishes which Carrie and Emily looked at each other ashamed that they couldn't cook what Rossi called easy. Carrie was surprised how easily the team was able to forget the darks of their work and have a good laugh. Even Hotch smiled which Emily had told Carrie that he rarely ever did.

"So Carrie," Rossi started, "Have you started looking at schools?"

"No," Carrie replied. "I think Emily had some in mind."

"Oh yes," Rossi smiled. "Which ones?"

"Private schools," Emily spoke up. "There are many good ones that my mom had wanted me to go to before we moved away."

"Great," JJ smiled and looked over to Emily.

The dinner continued and Carrie got lost in the conversation until she felt something tug her shirt and turned around to see an eager Jack standing there.

"I have to show you something," he smiled.

"Okay," Carrie said getting up from the table and followed the boy through the house and into the living room.

"Do you see that?" the boy said pointing to a metal on the wall.

"Yeah," Carrie smiled.

"The president gave that to him," Jack said excitedly. "Do you know that I am going to be the president?"

"Really?" Carrie replied.

"Yeah," Jack giggled. "Then I can eat all the candy I want."

Carrie laughed at the boy before following him into another room. Jack climbed onto a chair and pulled down a picture in a frame. It showed Rossi and Jack in some sort of contraption that they had made.

"That's Uncle Rossi and me," Jack said. "We built a fort when he was babysitting me. Do you want to build a fort?"

"Not now," Carrie smiled. "We are going to have desert and then leave soon."

"Oh," the boy said disappointed but then perked up. "Chocolate?"

"Maybe," Carrie reassured the boy. "And we can build a fort another time."

The rest of the dinner was great. The team laughed constantly, especially when jack got ice cream all over his face to look like a snowman. Hotch was not so pleased but the rest of the team found it funny. By nine everyone was tired and said their goodbyes before heading out. The drive back to Emily's apartment was quiet. Carrie kept her eyes on the building pretending she was traveling through space. She liked the team. They were nice and fun. Only if her parents could have been there. They would have loved the team. Carrie began to grow more and more guilty as they drove. They couldn't experience joys again and their last night spent together was narrow and full of hatred and blaming. Why had she made it? Why was she here. Emily couldn't tell if Carrie was okay. The girl was quiet but had had a big day with new people. They made their way up to the apartment where Emily went in quietly and checked her phone.

"Hotch just texted me," Emily started. "He says Jack keeps talking about you and says that he wants you to someday build a fort with him. He is cute."

"Yeah," Carrie smiled. "He reminds me of…my brother." Carrie hung her head. "I am going to go to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Emily said noting it was the first time Carrie had mentioned her brother at all.

Carrie had a new nightmare that she jolted up from in the middle of the night. The whole team had been laughing at her as the two men appeared with her dad's head and telling them they had done the right thing. Carrie tried going back to sleep, but something was different. Her hands were starting to tingle and she was breathing heavily. Carrie didn't know what was happening, but as much as she hated it, she needed Emily. Carrie quickly got up and found it hard to find her balance as she knocked on Emily's door and opened it.

"Emily?" Carrie peeped trying not to cry.

Emily shuffle around and reached for the light, "Carrie? What is it?"

Emily turned the light and saw the girl who now had a few tears running down her face and was shaking like an earthquake. Carrie not knowing what to do sat down on the floor and curled into a ball and cried. Emily quickly got out of her bed and sat down next to the teen.

"Carrie you are having a panic attack," Emily spoke softly. "I need you to breath."

"I, I, I can't," Carrie cried. "I can't feel my hands."

"Shhh, shh," Emily cooed. "I am going to move you."

Emily pulled Carrie over and leaned against the base of the bed. Emily pulled the scared girl into her arms and held her.

"Em, what is happening?" Carrie cried.

"Your body is panicking and you need to calm down," Emily said softly. "Can you hear and feel my breathing?"

Carrie nodded.

"Okay," Emily said. "I need you to copy it. Can you do that?"

Carrie nodded again.

"In and out," Emily whispered as she rubbed the girls back hoping that would help her calm down.

After about five minutes Emily could feel Carrie's breathing was syncopated with hers and pulled back and cupped Carrie's face that still had tears streaming down it and was full of fear. Emily wrapped her arms back around the girl and held her and rocked side to side.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Emily asked.

Carrie nodded and wrapped her arms around Emily and buried her face in Emily's shoulder. Emily let the girl cry for a long time before speaking again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asked.

Carrie shrugged, "Can we?"

"Yeah," Emily said glad the teen was wanting to talk after days of silence. "How about we sit on the bed?"

Carrie nodded and Emily helped the shaky girl up. Emily patted the spot next to her and Carrie sat down and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Talk whenever you are ready," Emily said.

"Well, um," Carrie started. "It was like the others-you know the one where they show up with Dad's head- but it was different. I was at the office and you guys were all there. When they brought it in and I started screaming you and the team started laughing at me and kept saying that I deserved it and that it should happen because I was a bad daughter."

Emily wanted to cry for the girl and reached out and started running her fingers through Carrie's hair.

"It was really scary," Carrie continued. "Everyone was being so mean to me and making fun of me and saying how I would never be a part of any other family again and that I was worthless and deserve to suffer this and die. I mean it's true. I was awful and am always bad luck and no one should want me. And then my family was there but they were all like ghosts. They kept telling me that is was unfair and that it should be me dead and not them. They said that I was a bad daughter and everything was my fault."

"Carrie, you should never ever think that," Emily said heartbroken.

"Yes I should," Carrie said back. "If I hadn't been acting the way I had in the restaurant then they never would have picked my family. I was a bad daughter and I deserve to be dead."

"Carrie," Emily said turning the girl's chin towards her. Carrie quickly pulled away. "Do not say that. Everything that happened would never be your fault and you should not blame yourself. That was a dream and dreams are not real."

"I know," Carrie said. "It just feels easier to think that then except what is happening."

"Is this why you haven't been taking?" Emily asked.

"Yeah. I get to be alive and that I get to laugh, and that you are so nice to me and it just is not fair to my parents and brother," Carrie said starting to cry, "I am afraid of what you guys will think of me and that something bad will happen, and that no one will love me or care for me, and that the bad guys will come get me and that you will not help find me, and so maybe if I don't try then it won't hurt as much."

"Carrie," Emily said. "None of that will happen. Everyone on the team cares for you so much."

"But didn't some of them not want me to go with you?" Carrie cried.

"Yes," Emily said. "It wasn't because of you but more so about the job and ethics and power which I don't care about. I care about you and your happiness, and that you get what you need and you aren't scared. I know this is so hard for you and I know it can feel easier to be distant."

"It hurts so much," Carrie said.

"Come here," Emily said opening her arms for the girl. "I know it hurts. I have always tried to push people away and when you try to push me away I get it and I see what you are doing. The only thing is that I can't help but to want to pull you back in and I won't let you push yourself away. The team will always be here for you. Garcia already has told me a million times of how you can stay with her when I travel, Reid is offering to tutor you in any subject, Rossi just wants to get to know you, Morgan is always asking about you and will do anything to protect you, Hotch doesn't want to show it but he would drop everything for you, and JJ: well JJ loves you so much and is scared when she can tell your behavior is off."

"Really?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," Emily sighed. "She might not be considered a profiler but she is one and therefore asks about you a lot. And I love you. I know that I am not the best at this guardian thing. I know I don't ask the right questions or don't know what to do, but I love you so much. I want you to be happy and live life. I know everything that happened is unfair but I will not give up on you. When you push me away I'm not going to let you. I know that distancing yourself may feel easier but it hurts so much later on. My mom let me and I am not her or going to be her."

Carrie started crying. Emily cared. Emily loved her.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did," Carrie sniffed after a few minutes after pulling back

"Its okay," Emily said while brushing tears off of Carrie's cheek kissing Carrie on the forehead.

Without thinking, Carrie lay her head on Emily's lap and Emily started running her fingers through the girl's dark hair.

"Emily?"

"Yeah,' Emily said softly.

"What do you mean about your mom?" Carrie asked. "You rarely talk about her and it's always sad."

"I never really got along with her," Emily said. "She did everything for power without thinking about the family. I never liked that. She never talked to me much and always questioned what I did. I know she cares about me but it's more sometimes I believe because I am another one of her assets."

"Oh," Carrie said.

"She is a nice person," Emily said, "she is just difficult to understand and she doesn't communicate affection well. I went through some hard times with moving so much and we kinda grew distant and varied in beliefs."

"Does she know about me?" Carrie asked.

"I didn't tell her," Emily said. "She has contacts and keeps tabs on me so I'm sure she knows though."

"Will I ever meet her?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," Emily said.

"And Emily," Carrie said. "Can we look at schools?"

"Whenever you are ready," Emily smiled.

"Can we go tomorrow?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, if you are ready," Emily smiled.

"I am," Carrie yawned.

"We should both get sleep then," Emily smiled. "Do you want to go back to your room or do you want to stay in here with me tonight?"

"Can I stay with you?" Carrie said slightly embarrassed.

"Of course," Emily said pulling back the covers.

Emily lay down and Carrie then crawled in next to her. Emily wrapped her arms around the teen to let her know she was there. Carrie relaxed at once because she knew Emily would never let anyone hurt her and that Emily loved her.

Emily kissed Carrie on the forehead, "Love you."


	6. Chapter 6

Emily woke up and felt something resting on her shoulder. Emily looked down and smiled at the teen who was fast asleep with her head on Emily's shoulder. Emily thought back to the days when Declan would do that. Carrie looked so peaceful and for once perfectly at rest. Emily softly slid out of her bed and out of the room to make breakfast. Thirty minutes later Emily returned to the room thankful to see the teen had continued to sleep. Emily sat down on the bed next to the girl and brushed her hand against the teen's shoulder.

"Carrie," Emily said softly, "It's time to get up."

Carrie moved slowly and her eyes began to flutter open seeming to try to figure out where she was for a second. Eventually Carrie turned and looked up at Emily.

"Good morning," Emily smiled.

"Morning," the teen said. "What time is it?"

"About eight-thirty," Emily said reaching her hand out and stroking Carrie's cheek. "I made some pancakes."

"Thanks," Carrie said and then quietly looked down. "Um about last night: are you going to tell the team?"

"Not if you don't want me to," Emily said. "I might only have told JJ."

"You can tell her," Carrie said quietly sitting up. "I think she should know."

"Okay," Emily said standing up and kissing Carrie on the head. "Let's go eat. We have some schools to visit."

Emily offered a hand to Carrie and pulled her off the bed and into a tight hug.

"I can't breath," Carrie said laughing. "You better not embarrass me at the schools."

Emily wrapped an arm around the teen as they walked down the hall, "Fine."

The two sat down and Emily pulled out a few brochures from one of the drawers and placed them on the table as the two started to eat.

"So these are the schools I thought we should look at," Emily said. "I picked up these so I thought we could narrow it down and not have to drive to each school."

"Yeah," Carrie said looking through with a puzzled look on her face. "These schools are all private and cost a lot of money."

"Yes," Emily said. "They are really good schools and I think you would do great at them so I thought we would look at them."

"Emily," Carrie started, "I mean I always just went to public schools. You don't need to spend more money on me."

"Carrie," Emily started. "Sorry. I guess I have only ever thought of private schools because I only attended private schools growing up. If you don't want to go to them that is fine with me, but money shouldn't be what determines this. You know what I said about my mother valuing status?" Carrie nodded. "Well she always kind of expected me to have kids and from a young age put money away for this. I pretty much have an account meant for this sort of thing."

"Oh," Carrie said. "I mean I guess we could look then. I just didn't want you spending more money."

"I know," Emily said. "These schools are really great and have great reputations so I think they would be very good for you to look at."

Carrie ate quietly before turning to speak to Emily, "What should I wear?"

"How about that purple dress you got the other day?" Emily suggested.

"Okay," Carrie said before wiping her mouth on a napkin. "I'm gonna go get ready."

Carrie looked at herself in the mirror. The dress looked good with a pair of black tights and small black boots. Carrie then made her way in the bathroom deciding to pull her hair half back. Carrie then reached into her small bag and pulled out her locker with her initials 'CAO' engraved on them. She looked fine. The schools seemed fancy so she felt a need to actually look good and use good manners.

"Well look at you," Emily smiled as Carrie walked down the hall. "You look great."

"Thanks," Carrie said.

The two headed out and made their way to the first school. The drive took longer than normal with rush hour traffic. The schools both lay outside of the city so eventually the roads became clear. Carrie nervously bit her lip and tapped her foot as she stared out the window.

"Hey," Emily said to the girl. "Don't be nervous."

"I'll try," Carrie mumbled.

"I had to do so many of these when growing up," Emily said reassuring the teen. Trust me: they are not that bad. Just be yourself. They will just ask you questions and it's relatively easy."

"Um," Carrie started, "Like what will they ask me?"

"I don't know," Emily started at saw how nervous Carrie looked and so she continued, "Carrie if they ask you anything that you find uncomfortable just skip it. I told them about your situation so hopefully they will not bring it up."

"Okay," Carrie said softly and returned to glazing out the window.

They arrived promptly during first hour to The Potomac School. Carrie stuck close to Emily as they made their way into the building and to the office. One of the administration staff immediately began taking them on a tour. The school was fancy and offered many subjects which Carrie found interesting. She had particularly loved the surroundings of the school that was enclosed by nature. Emily watched the teen relax more and more before they made their way back to the office. It had taken about an hour which was fine too Carrie who was dreading the interview more than anything. The lady brought Carrie and Emily to an office and directed them to have a seat.

"Dr. Shwam will be with you shortly.

Carrie straightened her dress and then began fidgeting with her fingers. Emily reached over and placed a hand on Carrie's hand to calm the girl. Just then the door opened and a pudgy woman with short brown hair and glasses walked over to the two. Carrie and Emily stood up quickly.

"Hi," The lady said. "I am doctor Shwam; the principal for the school.

"Hi," Emily said shaking Shwam's hand. "Emily Prentiss."

"Nice to meet you," Shwam said turning to Carrie. "And you must be Carrie…Prentiss?"

"Ortiz," Carrie said looking quickly to Emily who wanted to scream.

"Well nice to meet you," Shwam said. "Have a seat. Carrie, so I was looking at your transcript and you did very well your freshman year and up to now. You are just a sophomore but your records clearly indicate that you are set up on the right track. You were ahead, right?"

"Yes," Carrie smiled. "I tested out of freshman English and History and was in advanced math."

"Very good," Shwam appraised her. "And you are planning on going to college?"

"Yes," Carrie nodded.

"There are a few things you should know about our school," Shwam started, "We pride ourselves in academic achievement which means we want students who are going to be motivated, come to school, and participate. We expect are students to turn in everything on time with no exceptions and be good role models. Now with you situation right now, my biggest concern is that you will not do as well here because of it. We know that you may feel overwhelmed and concerned about everything so slack off on work and then receive poor remarks. Do you think that you can handle it?"

"Yes," Carrie replied sternly. "I can handle anything."

"Are you sure?" Shwam replied. "Many studies show that people who lose their parents tend to struggle and may fall down the wrong path and that leads to poverty and crime."

Carrie looked over to Emily for reassurance but Emily was trying to hold back, "I am fine."

"Well it doesn't seem so," Shwam said. "You are looking to Emily for everything and therefore acting as if you need her to function. We need students who can be fully functioning and willing to work independently…"

Emily cut her off, "I am not sure if you are understanding what you are saying. You are accusing a girl of becoming bad because of an incident that did affect her. I study human behavior, specifically for the FBI, and no for certain that yes while some people turn out as bad it is not because they simply lost their parents, it's because no one supports them. People like you. Even if everyone else is unlike you in this school, I would never be able to accept sending this child here where the head of the school could be so unsupportive. Even if Carrie struggles this year with school or anytime she could never turn into any criminal. She had a team of some of the top profilers watching out for her. I think we are done here."

Emily stood up abruptly followed by Carrie. Emily placed an arm around the girl's shoulder and lead her out of room entirely pissed that someone could treat a teen like that. The walk to the car was silent. Carrie climbed in one side and looked away from Emily too scared that looking at her would make Carrie break down.

"Hey," Emily said calmly. "I'm sorry."

"I don't want to talk about it," Carrie mumbled.

Emily started driving but kept one eye on Carrie who was fighting back tears. Emily reached out and took Carrie's hand. The teen, to Emily's surprise, let her hold her hand. Emily rubbed circle on the back of her hand as they drove quietly down the twisting roads.

After a little while Carrie whispered, "Thanks for what you did."

"Your welcome," Emily said softly. "I've got your back and so does the team. It's noon so we should go get something to eat before heading off to the next school, and if that school isn't right for you then I will keep searching."

Emily drove them to a small family dinner that had continuously been her favorite place to go when she was having a bad day. The dinner was quieter this time of day. Emily ordered them both a bowl of chili; which she had remembered Carrie had said she liked. They ate quietly but both of their minds were flooding with questions and concerns. An hour later they pulled up at the next school. This one was significantly smaller and only for girls which Emily thought would be safer for Carrie since she had been more uncomfortable around men after the event.

Again, they were given a tour. Carrie like the campus; it was smaller and seemed very friendly from what she could tell. She enjoyed the small hallways and structure of the school. Again they had to go into the interview. Carrie sighed and stayed close to Emily who was equally as nervous but didn't want to show it to scare the girl. This time when they walked in the principle was already at her desk.

"Hello," the woman said standing up and shaking both of their hands, "I am Principal Brendon. You must be Carrie."

"Yes," Carrie smiled.

"Agent Prentiss," Brendon said turning to Emily, "I recognize your name from your mother. I am glad you are considering Holton Arms. Have a seat." They sat. "So Carrie, I reviewed all of your transcripts and you seem to be a very impressive student all around. Your academics are superb and you seem to enjoy being involved."

"Yes," Carrie smiled.

"Without a doubt you would do well here," Brendon said. "Despite everything you are going through I believe you would do great here. We have small class sizes and all sorts of electives to choose from. The girls and teachers seem to be welcoming to all and I'm sure they would all enjoy to have you in the school."

"Thank you," Carrie smiled.

"We offer many different clubs too," Brendon added. "We like to see our students involved which I am sure you could easily join. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes," Carrie said. "I was taking Spanish, but I already speak it and was studying Latin on my own so I was wondering if it would be possible to switch into Latin?"

"Do you know where you were with it?" Brendon asked.

"Yes," Carrie replied. "Year two technically."

"Okay, great," Brendon smiled. "We have a wonderful Latin teacher here and the students really enjoy his class. Is there anything else?"

"No, that is all," Carrie replied.

"I know you may need time to consider coming here but know we would love to have you here," Brendon smiled. "We just finished first quarter so this would be a great time to start."

Carrie looked to Emily and nodded, "I think I would like to attend here."

"That was quick," Brendon replied enthusiastically.

"I know what I will like when I see it," Carrie shrugged.

"Okay then," Brendon started. "I have some paperwork for you both to fill out, if you don't mind."

Emily and Carrie spent the next hour in the office filling out papers and filling out a scheduling sheet. Carrie already was slightly excited. It was school and all but it could be fun. It was Friday so she had two days to get ready. Emily eventually finished all the work. She swore it was more work then filling out her FBI application or any other case report. Eventually the two left, both very pleased.

"Well that was a quick decision," Emily said wondering what was going on in the teen's mind. Carrie had grown slightly distant from this morning's meeting.

"I don't know," Carrie shrugged. "It just felt right?"

"Is it because of the way she treated you," Emily suggested knowing she had to get the teen to talk after last night.

"Maybe," Carrie shrugged.

Emily reached across the car and took Carrie's hand. Carrie looked up at Emily.

"Hey," Emily said. "You know what Schwamb said this morning isn't true."

"I know," Carrie said.

"Well even if it is a little bit implanted in your mind don't let it get to you," Emily said. "Or if it does talk to myself or JJ. Can you promise you will do that?"

"Okay," Carrie said.

"Good," Emily smiled. "I got a text from Morgan saying that him, Reid, Garcia are waiting outside the apartment and JJ is coming and bringing pizza."

"That will be fun," Carrie smiled.

"Yeah," Emily said. "So how about we get home and let them in."

"Agreed," Carrie said.

They got there as fast as they could and hurried up to the apartment.

"Took you two long enough," Morgan joked.

"My little princess," Garcia said scurrying over to give Carrie a hug.

"Okay let's get actually inside," Reid suggested.

Emily leaded them inside as they somehow all went and congregated in the kitchen.

"Anyone want anything to drink?" Emily asked. "I have a few wines we could try."'

"I'll have some," Carrie said grinning.

"Yeah that is a no," Emily said. "And I better never catch you drinking underage. Remember I work for the FBI."

"I know," Carrie smiled.

"Remember we all work for the FBI," Morgan said.

"I was only joking," Carrie laughed.

JJ walked in right as Carrie was laughing and couldn't help but to smile at the sound.

"I brought the food because I am the nice one," JJ said.

"Thank you so much," Emily said.

"There is a reason why I always liked you working with me," Garcia said.

"Wow," JJ said. "I didn't expect all that love."

"Okay why are we standing here?" Reid said. "There is pizza and I am starving."

"I agree with genius boy," Morgan said opening a box and grabbing a plate.

"Yeah let's eat," JJ said.

Everyone ate and continued joking around with one another.

"Hey," Garcia said. "Emily said you were looking at schools."

"Yep," Carrie nodded. "I chose one and filled out the paperwork for it and am all set."

"Great," JJ said.

"Which school?" Reid asked.

"Holten Arms," Carrie said.

"I've heard it's a really good school," Reid said. "What classes are you taking?"

"Um," Carrie thought. "Latin II, 10th grade honors English, Honors Algebra II, 20th century history, Science, and Psychology."

"If you ever need any help with any class just tell me," Reid offered.

"Okay," Carrie said.

"Did you look at any other schools?" JJ asked.

"Yeah," Carrie said looking over at Emily.

"The principal was a bitch," Emily said.

"Uh, yeah," Carrie said a little shocked to hear Emily swear. "It wasn't going to work."

"What did she say?" Garcia said. "I could track the principal down and mess up her computer or something."

"She said many things that were not appropriate," Emily sighed.

"Well if you need someone to go set her straight then just call me," Morgan said.

"Okay," Emily laughed. "How about we all go sit in the living room?'

The group got up and started walking. Carrie headed to the bathroom before making her way in and saw the only spot was next to JJ. Carrie made her way over and sat down next to JJ. JJ without thinking began to rub Carrie's shoulder.

"You okay," JJ said looking at the young teen.

"Yeah," Carrie half smiled. "Um, I had a panic attack last night. I got Emily when it happened and we talked."

"That's good," JJ said. "Is anything else bothering you?"

"I don't know," Carrie said.

JJ knew that what the principal had said was bothering the teen from a text Emily sent earlier about it.

"Do you want to talk," JJ asked continuing rubbing the teen's shoulder.

Both of them had zoned out from the rest of the group that was talking.

"Hey," Emily said. "We are going to go for a walk. Do you want to come?"

"Um," Carrie started. "I don't really feel like it right now."

Emily looked up to JJ.

"I'll stay here too," JJ said sending Emily a look that Emily would know what it meant.

"Okay," Emily said. "We'll be back in a bit."

The group left quickly leaving JJ and Carrie alone.

"So," JJ said. "It's just us now. Do you want to talk about what happened earlier?"

Carrie nodded.

"Okay," JJ smiled, "Whenever you are ready."

"It was just," Carrie paused trying to figure out what to say, "The principal was nice at first. Like she complemented what I'd done but then refocused. She started talking about how I would probably fail and become depressed. You know, the general stereotype of a kid who loses her parents."

JJ could tell Carrie was trying to distance herself so she moved and kneeled down in front of the teen and took Carrie's hands in her own.

"I am just," Carrie paused, "thinking maybe she is right and I am set up to fail."

"Hey that isn't true," JJ said.

"It could be," Carrie said. "I've read studies."

A tear started to fall from Carrie's eye and JJ reach out her hand and brushed the falling tear off the teens cheek.

"Hey, hey," JJ said. "You're crying. Don't cry. What that principal said wasn't right. She was bullying you and you can't let her win by believing it."

"But JJ," Carrie said back, "The studies show it is true."

"Those studies don't account for the times when you have a strong support system," JJ smiled. "Do they?"

Carrie shook her head.

"Promise me that you will not listen and believe what she said?" JJ asked. "And promise me that if you ever, ever, ever feel that way you will talk to one of us. You know-"

"The team loves me," Carrie sniffed and then smiled.

"You have one big loving family," JJ smiled.

"I know," Carrie smiled. "Emily keeps pounding that into me."

JJ got up and sat down next to Carrie and pulled the teen into a tight hug.

"Just to prove it," JJ said.

Carrie relaxed and hugged JJ back.

"I might take Garcia and Morgan up on their offer," JJ said.

Carrie laughed, "They would really do that?"

"Well," JJ said. "I would not let Morgan physically show up there but Garcia can pretty much do anything and not be tracked."

"So pretty much I have access to someone who can do anything and not get caught?" Carrie asked.

"Yes," JJ said. "That is why you should never aim to be her enemy."

"Got it," Carrie said. "I love you guys."

"We all love you," JJ said placing a kiss on Carrie's head, "Especially me. Why don't we go do the dishes and surprise Emily?"

"Okay," Carrie smiled.

The dished went well until Carrie accidentally got a little bit of water on JJ who then spayed Carrie all over with the hose. Both were laughing at the end when Carrie decided to go change into something dry. As Carrie was changing Emily and the others got back.

"Hey JJ," Emily said walking into the kitchen with the others. "Where's Carrie?"

"Changing," JJ said. "I may have sprayed her with water."

"Hey," Carrie said coming up from behind them.

"Did you get JJ back?" Emily asked.

"Not really," Carrie said. "I am saving that for later."

"Good girl," Garcia said.

"If you want help I can help," Morgan said winking at Carrie.

"Got it," Carrie laughed.

"I think I should get going," Reid said.

"Agreed," the three others said at once.

"Okay," Emily said. "Have a great weekend."

Hugs were exchanged but Reid and Morgan both knew Carrie was still very hesitant around men so Morgan simply patted her on the back and Reid waved. JJ took a moment to look Carrie in the face before pulling her in and kissing her on the forehead. They all headed out leaving Emily and Carrie alone.

"So," Emily said. "What do you want to do.'

"Can we watch a movie?" Carrie asked.

"Of course," Emily smiled. "What should we watch?"

"Harry Potter," Carrie said.

"Good choice," Emily said. "How about you set it up and I am going to go change into comfy clothes."

"Okay," Carrie nodded and went and put the movie in before going to go sit on the couch.

Emily came back in carrying a blanket and sat down next to Carrie. The teen hit the play button and the iconic theme song started into play. Carrie snuggled in against Emily and rested her head on Emily's shoulder. Emily wrapped an arm around Carrie and threw the blanket over the teen. They stayed like that for the rest of the movie in silence. When the movie finished Carrie wrapped the blanket around her and started heading off to her room.

"This is actually an invisibility cloak and you can't see me," Carrie giggled.

"We'll see about that," Emily said sneaking up behind the teen and poking her side.

"Agh," Carrie said. "That isn't fair."

"Proof," Emily said as she led Carrie into the bedroom.

Carrie crawled in her bed and Emily sat down on the edge.

"I wish I had a mirror like they did in Harry Potter," Carrie said. "Then maybe I could see my family."

"I know," Emily said. "Sometimes I think the world would be great if we all had magic but at the same time dealing with the job I do, I know there would be many people who would abuse it."

"Yeah," Carrie sighed. "I guess that is true."

"I know what you mean though," Emily said. "Well, we both need to get to sleep. If you need anything, come get me."

"I will," Carrie said. "Goodnight Em."

"Goodnight," Emily said kissing Carrie on her head and turned and headed out of the room.


End file.
